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Cuttack, Oct 13: Fresh from their innings and 152 runs victory over Rajasthan, the Assam cricketers looked a confident lot when they trained at the Barabati Stadium here Tuesday. Assam will face Orissa in the Group A Ranji Trophy tie beginning here Thursday and will definitely aim to bag full points. They have been in very good form this season and currently sit atop Group A with 10 points from two matches.
Orissa’s show on the other hand has been anything but inspiring with the side conceding first innings lead to both Vidarbha and Maharashtra. Except for Govind Poddar and to some extent Pratik Das, none of the other batters have delivered. If they want to do something noteworthy against the visitors, the top-order including skipper Biplab Samantray will have to
come good.
KB Arun Karthik have been in sparkling form for Assam with the bat. In the last match against Rajasthan, he got a 150-plus score. In the bowling department, medium pacer Krishna Das picked up 10 wickets in the same game and would like to continue in the same vein against Orissa. Overall it will not be an easy game for the hosts unless they really buckle up their belts.
4 from Orissa.
Four players from Orissa have found a place in 16-member East Zone under-19 squad for the ODI zonal event which will be played at Cuttack, October 17 to 23. They are Sourabh Rawat, Sandeep Patnaik, Asutosh Das and Subham Nayak. Sandeep, in fact has been selected as the deputy skipper of the side to be led by Agniv Pan of West Bengal.
Anurag Prusty has found a place in the list of the five stand-bys announced for the tournament. The team will be coached by Daniel Rout of Orissa.
Crucial 3 points
Hosts Orissa managed to earn a crucial three points by obtaining the first innings lead against Chhattisgarh in the four-day under-23 tie which concluded at Bargarh, Tuesday. In reply to Orissa’s first innings score of 504 for six declared, Chhattisgarh resuming at their overnight score of 238 for three were bowled out for 416. In their second innings, Orissa were 43 for two when stumps were called.